That's all for now, come read more of my book reviews next time. Thanks for your time. 

The William C. Morris debut award winning book, written by M-E Girard, has to be one of the most comical, real, and fiercest books I’ve ever read. I remember the day I walked into the library to find my destined book. The librarian, Ms.Prettol, set out quotes from various books to help us decide on an interesting book and this one unique quote caught my eye quickly. It read: “There are four of us dudes sitting here right now, and I kick all of their butts when it comes to video games-and I’m not even a dude in the first place.” Not only did it make me laugh, but I was energetically interested in knowing what happens next. 

So I fled to the quiet room, where all the wondrous books were and found the book and instantly started reading it. Ever since, this book only kept getting better and better. That being said, I am now informing you that you are reading my book review on this original and vibrant book.

 

I personally recommend this book for ages that are older middle schoolers, high schoolers, or even adults. I don’t recommend it for these ages just because it’s a higher level of reading, but there is an uncountable amount of mature words and references. Which is, not to mention, unsuitable for children ages 12 and under. Although, I was capable of reading it without judgement or negative reaction. Another perk of the language used is that it reveals what actual teenagers are like, and how they deal with problems and friendships. 

The genre is unique too, similar to how the characters are. I would sort this book into the fiction, drama, and humor genre. “Girl Mans Up” is about a teenage girl named Penelope, a 10th grader at Castlehill High who is struggling with identity issues. Penelope dresses in her big brother’s clothes, hangs out with strictly boys, and hates being girly in any way possible. She’s even attracted to girls and not boys. However, no one is really accepting about this behavior. Her mom and dad puts her down, her friends call her names and tease her, and kids at school are often rude to her.

So far, I’m halfway into this book and Pen is dealing with many different issues, but I noticed she still remains strong and learns to walk away. But, you can tell she keeps things as baggage on her shoulders. One situation that might come courageous to you is when Pen confronted a schoolmate who was throwing up and asked if she was okay. The girl was stubborn to tell the truth, but Pen found out eventually and asked again if she was pregnant a few days after. Overall, I honestly love this book and I believe anyone else could warm up to it as well if they gave it a few pages of reading. That’s all it took for me, then I fell in love. 

Thank you for reading this book review. I even have a second one about “The Lightning Thief” from the Percy Jackson series written by Rick Riordan!

2. Book Review

“The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan is about a young boy named Percy Jackson, who isn’t particularly “normal.” Secretly, almost everyone around him knows exactly why, but they have to protect him from whatever evil that is out there that wants his power. Percy Jackson is in middle school and is often teased and disfavoured. Mostly his whole life has been this way because he’s dyslexic, has ADHD, and is just “different” from everyone. A heavily special, godly kind of different, in this case. He lives with his mom and her repugnant boyfriend.

 

Percy doesn’t have the best life, but his mom loves him and he’s determined to keep going if that’s what it takes to get out from where he is at the moment. Throughout this book, one of my very favorite things is how almost every single chapter ends with a cliffhangers that leaves me eager to know what happens in the next chapter. That’s one of the reasons why I finished this book fairly quickly, but there are over 250 pages to read.

 So I’d recommend readers who enjoy fantasy, fiction, adventure, and action novels that take at least a month to finish. If you’re a quicker reader, you could finish it in less time. The book contains slight gore and a large number of advanced words suited for middle schoolers. This book is literally coated in action, from fighting mythical creatures, fighting children of gods, and to traveling to the underworld. This is actually my third time reading it. I read it once in elementary, middle school, and again once currently. Honestly, it was that good to the point that I didn’t mind reading it multiple times. I plan on reading the next couple of books that are apart of the series, and I encourage anyone else to as well. Whatever Rick Riordan was thinking when writing his books, it must’ve been genius. I say this because I am hooked onto Percy’s adventures.

In conclusion, this is my book review on “The Lightning Thief” by Rick Riordan. My hopes are that you can find out how to enjoy this book just like how I did, and then continue the striking series. Thank you for reading my book review.

My most favorite aspect about this novel is that every chapter never wastes your time. Every piece of information is important to know and read, and gets to the point. So if you finish reading my book review and plan to read it, don’t expect too many cliffhangers or slow introductions. As I’ve explained before, the book revolves around the main character’s life, Penelope Oliveira. Everybody judges her and she’s had a strong history regarding bullying towards her gender and choice of style. Everyone encourages her, even her own parents, to “quit trying to be a boy” and to be how they believe she should behave and present herself. Pen obviously, being the strong and righteous person she is, doesn’t fall for that nonsense. From what I’ve absorbed from this novel now that I’ve finished it, is that Pen’s sole purpose as the main character was to find herself and to make tough life decisions. There were many parts of this book where I could relate to her struggle, and I’ve even once cried to the explanation of her pain. One of these struggles was the demanding of control that her parents overwhelmed her with. Wear this, act like a girl, be a princess, stop being a “punk druggy”. Her intentions within the book is never to provoke anyone, but just to find her way through the path to her real identity that she’s truly comfortable with. Ever since she was a little one, she never had a strong passion for anything girly. The girliest thing she’s ever participated in was this green dress she wore, only because it references to ninja turtles, her favorite action cartoon. But, it doesn’t matter. Each day she is still pressured into being what everyone wants her to be. An example of this is when her Mom forced her to stop acting like a boy after Pen got in trouble at school. “Then she says there are new rules for me to obey: No more job. No more boy clothes. No more girls over at the house. No more boys over at the house. No more short hair.”

However, Pen realizes what matters most to her, and makes life changing decisions for her own sake. That’s what makes me love the book as well, it’s inspiring. If everything you’ve read so far in my book review sounds like a book you’d definitely be interested in reading, then it’s advised that you read “Girl Mans Up” by M-E Girard.
Book Review #2
Taming the mind by Thubten Chodron is a philosophic book, that focuses on Buddhism teachings. My father took me out to the bay, and we visited a Buddhist temple, and there they had a gift shop. Within the gift shop there were healing crystals, bracelets, Tibetan singing bowls, incense, and more. But, most importantly there were books. I investigated the large bookshelf, and decided to buy and take home a book called "Taming the Mind." I mainly chose it because at the moment I was going through rough times, and needed to educate myself on managing my mental stability. This book, as stated in it's brief description on it's cover, provides philosophic points towards achieving happiness through Buddhism teachings. It doesn't follow a story line, it's more like an informative read. If you enjoy reading books to expand your mindset on different views, such as how to view bad and good people, hard situations, and more, then perhaps this book would be to your liking. Here are a few quotes from the book to give you an idea: "How we look at a situation determines our experience of it. We may look at our Mother and think, "she always tells me what to do. She's so demanding." Then every time we see her, we feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, we may think, "My mother gave me this body. She took care of me when I was a helpless infant and couldn't even feed myself. She taught me how to speak and behave." Then our mother appears very kind to us." Now that you have a preview of one of the lessons taught in the book, you can maybe judge on whether or not you'd consider reading this book.